Claude Code for Filmmakers

Set up first. The course is worth more afterwards.

Install Claude Code, read the one page that lists what you are handing over, then drag one file in. Then start the course with a studio already running on your own machine.

Take me to the setup

The setup

Two steps, and then you leave it alone.

You will not open a terminal, you will not type a command, and you do not need to know what a shell is. Ten minutes, most of it spent waiting.

Get the free Claude app

This is not the course. It is Anthropic’s own free app, and it is the thing that does the setup for you. If you already have Claude on this computer, skip to step 2.

Claude for Mac ~350 MB · from Anthropic Claude for Windows ~350 MB · from Anthropic

Open it, sign in, and click the tab marked Code. It needs a paid Claude plan, so sign in on the address you actually pay with — signing in on the wrong one of your email addresses is the single most common way to lose half an hour here. On Windows, if it refuses to install and mentions trusted apps, switch on Settings → System → For Developers → Developer Mode and open it again.

Paste this one link into it

Go to the Code tab, paste this in, and press return. That is the installation. Nothing to download, nothing to unzip.

https://claude-code-for-filmmakers.pages.dev/install.md

Then leave it alone. It installs anything this computer is missing, builds your studio, and then interviews you about your work. On a Mac, two moments need you and only two — a window asking to install Apple’s developer tools, and GitHub showing you an eight-character code. On Windows there is nothing to click at all.

Would rather have a file?

One file, either way. Unzip it, drag the file named 1 - START HERE into Claude, press return. It is the same studio and the same installer.

Download for Mac one file · 230 KB Download for Windows one file · 231 KB

On Windows you can skip Claude entirely: open the folder and double-click Run me first (Windows).cmd. It is native Windows — no WSL, no Linux, nothing to switch on. The Windows page walks through every box Windows puts in the way, including the one that makes a finished install look like a failed one.

It creates one folder called Film-Studio in your home directory. Everything it installs lives inside it; nothing is scattered around your machine.
It deletes nothing, not even when you uninstall — that renames the folder aside and you keep everything.
It sends nothing anywhere. Your files stay on your computer.
It starts a history from the first minute, so anything it does can be undone. Including things you approved and later regret.
It proves its own guards. Before it finishes it tries something a guard is meant to block and shows you the refusal, rather than telling you the guard is there.

The long version: what it is allowed to touch — every permission it takes and every one it refuses, in plain English. Two minutes, and it is the only reading this setup asks of you.

0 of 24 done

The Course

0Ten Minutesinstalled, running, and one real result on your own files15 slides 1What This Does For Youthe tool, defined by the jobs it takes off you16 slides 2Storyfrom an idea to a shot list you can actually generate from14 slides 3Imagestills first, the look, the frames, and a prompt library that fires off your shot list16 slides 4Motionthe approved frames start moving, off the same file, on a queue14 slides 5Consistencyholding the face, the coat and the light across every shot16 slides 6Soundvoice, music and the effects pass, built off the same shot file16 slides 7Editthe assembly builds itself, and then the film becomes yours again16 slides 8Ship Itevery version every platform wants, checked against the spec, in one pass16 slides 9The Librarythree hundred generations, and finding the good one in four seconds16 slides 10When It Lies To Youthe failures that cost real days, and the one habit that catches all of them16 slides 11Your Short Filmthe capstone, in one week, and the four weeks after it14 slides 12The Sizzlethe piece that makes an unmade film feel real16 slides

Bonus Session · The Deep End

1What a Terminal Actually Isthe black window, explained properly, once24 slides 2The File That Tells It Who You Areone file, read every session, and the discipline that keeps it working20 slides 3Teaching It Your Rulespermissions, posture, and being asked only about things worth asking about21 slides 4Giving It a Memorywhy it forgets, and the two tiers that keep a memory useful instead of large21 slides 5Hiring a Crewwhat a subagent is, when more of them helps, and when it destroys your work21 slides 6Reflexesmaking it refuse things, so safety stops depending on memory22 slides 7Teaching It a Procedurewrite down how you do a thing once, get it done your way every time21 slides 8Connecting Your Other Toolsreaching your drive, your notes and your generators, safely23 slides 9Making It Run Without Youscheduled work, the weekly loop, and checks that repair rather than report23 slides 10Your Phone, and the Machine Being Offwhat genuinely travels, and what stays on the desk19 slides 11Building Your Own Studio From Scratchan empty folder to a working system, in one sitting25 slides

The Program The filmmaker cuts. The tool prepares.